With their entire roster intact from last season and some notable recruits coming in, the time is now for the Bisons men's volleyball team. Ranked No.4 in the pre-season coaches poll, their roster includes 13 combined third to fifth-years, 11 of whom are seniors.
 
The Herd defeated UBC Okanagan – their 2025-26 home and season opening opponent – in the Canada West Play-In Series at home last season, marking the first post-season series win for the program in seven years. They'll look to take the next step this season.
 
"We are very deep. I think we're probably one of the deepest teams in the league. Last year I didn't use the depth as much as I could have This year will be a little bit different that way," said head coach Arnd 'Lupo' Ludwig.
 
"When you look at how we played in the pre-season, we had ten to 12 guys who really contributed at a really high level, and the others are not far away."
 
As Ludwig mentioned, the Bisons offered a taste of what is hopefully to come with a 7-1 record in the pre-season, including a 3-1 win over defending Canada West champion Winnipeg, and a 3-1 win over perennial powerhouse Alberta.
 
In their victory over the Golden Bears, six different players recorded at least three kills, and the squad had three solo blocks and 13 assisted.
 
Powerful right side Karil Dadash Adeh led Manitoba with 15 kills against Alberta, and he's coming off a season where he set the school record (rally scoring era) for most regular season aces, with 53. Not far behind at the service line was fellow senior Jordon Heppner, whose 41 aces were just behind Dadash Adeh for most in a regular season.
 
As a team, the Bisons led the country with 184 aces a year ago, which helped set up their blocking, along with in system offence, with Ludwig adding that they "know when to put on pressure and when to take a bit off [the serve]."
 
On the attack, look for sophomore Owen Weekes to made an early impact. He spent the summer playing for Team Canada's U21 squad, and the 2024-25 All-Rookie member is capable of playing on either the left or right side, while his passing has improved substantially.
 
"He played left side, and from what I saw he passed pretty well," noted Ludwig of Weekes' Team Canada summer.
 
"He got some attention from pro teams. His passing has definitely improved. He wants to practice, he wants to be in the gym every day. Owen, as long as he's on the court, that's most important, whether he's on the right or the left side. The way he's practiced, he's doing well on the left side."
 
Along with Weekes and Dadash Adeh, Ludwig has the luxury of going to any of the other seven outside or opposites on his roster (Spencer Grahame, Kai Boyko, Eric Ogaranko, Benjamin Kuhner, Rowan Krahn, Nicoles Carter, Ethan Hildebrand) depending on the matchup.
 
All are capable of making a big play at any time and stepping up. Notably, Grahame and Boyko both had over 100 kills last season, while Ogaranko averaged two points per set and helped clinch Manitoba's post-season win over UBCO last year.
 
"We can adapt a little bit to the opponent, depending what we need," added the bench boss.
 
"We have Spencer, our experienced captain who is doing really well. Then we have Eric who's athletic and he's a gamer, and Kai and Owen with their athleticism in position four. We have Rowan and Ben both with their skill in the back row, and Ethan is great as a serving sub. We have a deep, deep bench."
 
In the middle, Heppner and Jonah Dueck combined for 143 blocks last year, while seniors Harrison Ens and Tyson Nachtigall add further experience. Manitoba also secured the commitment of two of the top middles in the country in 6'8" forces Chris Redmann and Isaac McComb.
 
At setter, seniors Alex Witt and Sammy Ludwig combined for 606 assists last year, while Travis Schroeder adds another year of experience to his belt. At libero, consistent senior Josh Jehle had 146 digs in 2024-25, while Mitchell Strilchuk also returns.
 
Manitoba kicks off their regular season at 1 pm CT at IGAC against UBCO.
 
"We don't want to get too excited right now," concluded Ludwig. "We had a good pre-season, but the season starts now. We have to really focus on one point at a time and don't worry about what has happened in the past."